Sizeable benefits

Terrassement Berger is a construction company based near Liège in Belgium. It specialises in earthmoving work and wanted a machine so it could expand the type of jobs it took on with new, bigger challenges. For this it needed a powerful but compact machine capable of working in city centres.

Local dealer Dannemark recommended the Case CX245D SR for “its ability to work in tight spaces, fuel efficiency, productivity and powerful performance. Also, the great stability, ample cab space and adjustable operator station were important for this customer.”

The minimum-swing radius excavator is designed to provide increased digging and lifting power in confined work areas. The compact counterweight and modified boom placement minimise the machine’s footprint, making it a highly productive and manoeuvrable excavator in restricted conditions. With an operating weight of 26 t and a 160 HP Tier 4 Final/Stage IV engine, it offers more bucket digging forces and lift capacity than its predecessor.

The new machine is already at work in a new build construction in Flémalle, near Liège, and Mr Berger is delighted with the “good performance, ease of use, low cost of ownership and productivity of the machine.”

In particular, he appreciates the fact that the machine is fast, powerful and with a short radius, essential requirements for the job in Flémalle, which had to be completed in a very short time.

The relationship with Dannemark, is also critical for Mr Berger: “I knew that I needed a compact machine of more or less 25 t and Dannemark convinced me to work with Case. I am sure that I made the right choice.”

Increased demand

French demolition and earthmoving company Millot TP has expanded its fleet with two Hitachi medium excavators and a wheeled loader from Teramat, the dealer for the Rhône-Alpes and Burgundy-Franche-Comté regions.

The ZX300LCN-6, ZW180-5 and ZX250LC-6 were delivered in response to increased levels of demand in and around the city of Lyon.

One of the first projects for the ZX300LCN-6 was at a former shopping centre, where it was used for the large-scale excavation of demolished materials as well as the groundwork and foundations for a new housing development on the site.

“I really like the ZX300LCN-6, because it is more powerful than the previous machine,” said operator Bruno Lourenço.

“Overall, it’s an excellent machine. It’s smooth and fast, and the loading cycle is very good. For example, there is no problem in working with around 10 trucks each day on this site.”

Millot CEO Daniel Pijot, who has used Hitachi equipment for 15 years, added: “We continue to buy Hitachi machines because we know the brand so well and have been very happy with our equipment from the beginning.

“We have purchased other brands in the past, but have always come back to Hitachi as they compare favourably to the competition in terms of ease of maintenance, engine power and fuel consumption.

“The customer service from our Hitachi dealer is also excellent.”

Century old site

Caterpillar excavators were to the fore when United Kingdom-based contractor DSM Demolition teamed up with attachment specialist ECY Haulmark to undertake a 12-week project at one of England’s most famous football grounds.

White Hart Lane, home to London club Tottenham Hotspur, is being redeveloped for the 2018-19 season after the original venue staged its final fixture in May.

And while main contractor Mace has the job of making sure the new build is ready for kick off in just over 12 months’ time, DSM is clearing the part of the site occupied by the club for more than a century.

Fittingly, while the professional game wrestles with new contracts and transfer windows, DSM has made a signing of its own to help the demolition run smoothly.

At the start of the contract, it unveiled a Cat 6015B high reach excavator from Finning. Equipped with a range of five arm options developed by Kocurek, the machine can operate at 230 t with standard arms or 250 t with the telescopic option.

It is currently operating at a height of 38 m (124 ft) and carrying a 6.5 t La Bounty MSD2250R scrap shear from ECY Haulmark, a company that DSM has dealt with for more than 15 years when choosing products such as hydraulic breakers, selector grabs, shears, concrete processors, hydraulic magnets and buckets.

DSM said it chose the LaBounty model as it believed it to be the best available to complement the Cat high reach. Other machines on site include a number of Hyundai R300 and R380 excavators fitted with the OilQuick automatic coupler system also installed by ECY Haulmark.

Reduced tail swing

United Kingdom-based waste and recycling company McCarthy Marland has purchased two Doosan DX140LCR-5 Stage IV 15 t reduced tail swing crawler excavators for its material recycling facility (MRF) in the south west of England.

Formed in 2001, McCarthy Marland was created to fill a gap in the local market for waste removal.

Since then, the company has grown rapidly, taking on extra personnel and increasing its fleet of lorries and skips on a regular basis to satisfy demand.

Operations manager Kevin McDonagh said: “We have been purchasing Doosan machines for over 10 years now and they have always performed well in our busy sorting and loading operations in Bristol and the new Doosan equipment has impressed our operators.”

XCMG’s XE215S amphibious excavator is a multi-purpose machine based on the mature technology of the XE215C and designed for working on beach, soft soil and climatic environments.

It also has the features of low ground pressure and water floating besides the normal functions of an excavator, applicable to safe travel and working on the soft terrain, sludge and water surface of land and moor. This machine adopts in-house optimised power, hydraulic system and electrical system with higher working performance and reliability; the new sealed floating box crawler travel structure overcomes the amphibious hydraulic excavator travel system’s shortcoming of easy wear, short service life, great resistance and high power consumption; and has great market competitive strength in maintenance, special transport and generality of working conditions.

Between January and April this year, the export value of XCMG products has almost doubled year on year, with excavators accounting for more than 40%.

Recycling is an essential part of the business at McCarthy Marland. The company recycles around 95% of waste materials that come into the site using state-of-the-art waste segregation technology, which enables it to recover as much recyclable material as possible so that it can go on to be reprocessed and reused. This includes a significant amount of material sent on to waste to energy companies in Wales.

Like all Doosan’s Stage IV compliant models, the DX140LCR-5 excavator offers increased performance, durability and fuel efficiency, with a focus on greater power, robustness and versatility. It is powered by the Perkins 1204F engine, which combines reduced fuel consumption with the power and torque of larger engines with a smaller displacement. The engine provides a 6% increase in power with an output of 85.9 kW (115.3 hp) at 2,000 rpm and a 3% increase in torque. Swing torque has also been boosted by 28%.

Fuel consumption has been lowered by up to 10% compared to the previous generation machine. As well as the Stage IV engine, new systems and functions have been incorporated to achieve this significant result. For example, the current fuel consumption can be read directly on the LCD panel and the engine can be shut off automatically after a pre-set time when the machine is not being operated.

In addition, to save fuel, Doosan has developed a special new system – which is called Smart Power Control – to optimise the balance between the pumps’ output and the diesel engine.

Adapting mature technology

XCMG’s XE215S amphibious excavator is a multi-purpose machine based on the mature technology of the XE215C and designed for working on beach, soft soil and climatic environments.

It also has the features of low ground pressure and water floating besides the normal functions of an excavator, applicable to safe travel and working on the soft terrain, sludge and water surface of land and moor. This machine adopts in-house optimised power, hydraulic system and electrical system with higher working performance and reliability; the new sealed floating box crawler travel structure overcomes the amphibious hydraulic excavator travel system’s shortcoming of easy wear, short service life, great resistance and high power consumption; and has great market competitive strength in maintenance, special transport and generality of working conditions.

Between January and April this year, the export value of XCMG products has almost doubled year on year, with excavators accounting for more than 40%.

•  Article originally published in the July-August 2017 issue of Demolition & Recycling International. To see it in full, including extra images, or to register to receive the magazine on a regular basis, please visit www.khl.com/subscriptions